


The Lost Jedi

by runiwritten



Category: Star Wars Sequel Trilogy, Star Wars: Phasma - Delilah S. Dawson
Genre: F/M, Force-Sensitive Finn (Star Wars), Gen, Rey Skywalker
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-12-25
Updated: 2020-01-01
Packaged: 2021-02-26 07:35:10
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 14,279
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21959731
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/runiwritten/pseuds/runiwritten
Summary: We open on a spacescape, multitudinous with stars, and the words EPISODE VIII, The Lost Jedi... Following the decimation of Starkiller Base, many key New Republic systems are now threatened by First Order occupation. Supreme Leader Snoke has deployed his legions to seize vital resources in developing new planet-killing weapons. But the Resistance has an unexpected advantage...
Relationships: Finn & Luke Skywalker, Finn/Rey (Star Wars), Kylo Ren & Rey, Leia Organa & Luke Skywalker, Leia Organa & Rey, Mara Jade/Luke Skywalker, Poe Dameron & Finn, Poe Dameron & Finn & Rey, Poe Dameron & Leia Organa, Rey & Ben Solo, Rey & Luke Skywalker
Comments: 8
Kudos: 20





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This is my first time taking on a project within the Star Wars fandom. This idea was born in 2017, but never pursued it beyond what I wrote in a blur in the week following my viewing of TLJ. After seeing TROS is decided to return to the idea once again, and see what I could make of it.  
> I'm going to be transparent with the direction of this fic, so that any curious parties may make their own choices to read my work:  
> \- This is fic takes into account some elements of the Phasma novel, but I doubt you'll need to have read it to understand what is going on.  
> \- This fic is in a combined format of Screenwriting conventions and regular prose.  
> \- The current intention is to write toward FinnRey, however there is deep FinnPoe friendship in here as well.  
> \- I do not particularly like Reylo, however I am developing Kylo Ren and the Force connection with Rey introduced in TLJ with my own headcanons. I am writing Kylo Ren as the villain I quite would have liked him to be with complexities I feel he was not given in the film.  
> \- I will be working a known EU character into this AU Sequels narrative, I have read wiki articles about this character but not much else.  
> \- Poe and Finn get their own emotional journeys.  
> \- There are currently no spoilers for TROS in this narrative, and likely won't be.
> 
> I hope you enjoy this fic, and I ask that if you want to comment please do so with kindness.

We open on a spacescape, multitudinous with stars, and the words EPISODE VIII, The Lost Jedi

Following the decimation of Starkiller Base, many key  
New Republic systems are now threatened by First Order  
occupation. Supreme Leader Snoke has deployed his  
legions to seize vital resources in developing  
new planet-killing weapons. 

But the Resistance has an unexpected advantage, thanks  
to Resistance spy Vi Moradi who recovered Captain Archex  
Cardinal from the Star Destroyer  _ Absolution _ after he discovered  
a conspiracy between General Armitage Hux and Captain Phasma,  
regarding the death of the late General Brendol Hux.

Headed by General Leia Organa, The Resistance continues  
to challenge First Order tyranny, heartened by the hope that  
the Scavenger Rey will reach Jedi Master Luke Skywalker and  
return with him to inspire their allies in the occupied systems. 

As the starscape shifts, a massive planet appears. Mahsyr is green and lush, but hosts a gaping crater at its center, glittering with machinery and ore. A star destroyer and First Order support ships loom over the large mining planet. A smaller, cloudy planet with breaks of green— the moon Dahmyr— comes into view, the first stop of our adventure. 

**INT. RESISTANCE CRUISER CONTROL ROOM**

Lieutenant Connix, age twenty-five stands before a series of monitors. The room is a murmur of voices, resistance personnel at their terminals, others looking on. The energy is tense and excited. 

“You’re cleared to go, Commander Dameron. Repeat. You are cleared to go."

**INT. POE’S X-WING FIGHTER - SPACESCAPE**

BB-8 beeps nervously in its port.

“Happy beeps, buddy. Happy beeps,” Poe says, flicking switches and buttons on his dashboard. 

Now on comms, he says: “This is Black Leader. Phase Two is Go. Confirm.”

The comms squawk to life with each reply.

“Red Squadron, confirmed.”

“Blue Squadron, confirmed.”

“Gold Squadron, confirmed.”

In his X-Wing, Poe shuts his eyes and takes a deep breath, nodding to himself. “Proceed with Phase Two. Their RADAR and trackers are scrambled. Let’s get in there!”

The X-Wing Squadrons begin their approach to Dahmyr.

**EXT. DAHMYR SECURITY BASE - DAY**

Stormtroopers perform their rounds and uniformed First Order personnel go about their work. Clouds dull the sunlight, and fog billows through the thick tree cover surrounding the compound. Spotlights sit on axis facing inward, illuminating the interior roads.

Dust-covered prisoners push lines of carts full of supplies, overseen by a guard of Shadowtroopers and Stormtroopers armed with rifles and stun clubs. A male prisoner hears the approaching X-Wing Fighters and looks alarmedly toward the treeline.

“Keep moving!” shouts a shadow trooper, brandishing his stun club. 

Black Leader breaks through the fog, followed by the other X-Wing Fighters, flying over the facility. Prisoners shout and cheer excitedly. Troopers arm their weapons 

“Resistance ships! Resistance ships!”

Amidst blaster fire from the surface, a Blue Squadron Fighter takes out the communications tower. 

“They’re dark! Comms are down,” calls Blue Leader. “No distress signals are getting off this moon!”

“Great work!” replies Poe, a grin spreading across his face. “Target the cannons and turrets.”

**INT. RESISTANCE CRUISER CONTROL ROOM - SPACESCAPE**

Resistance personnel murmur in anticipation. General Leia Organa stands before the same monitors that Lieutenant Connix does, watching the screens with a reserve, not letting herself celebrate just yet.

“Ground teams go,” says Lieutenant Connix on the comms.

She and Leia exchange looks. 

“This had better work,” says Leia.

**EXT. DAHMYR SECURITY BASE - DAY**

Resistance fighters emerge from the treeline. Blaster fire is targeted at the manned turrets. Troopers return fire. The prisoners rush the troopers, overwhelming many of them by throwing things or tackling them. 

Combat vehicles emerge behind the fighters, their cannons begin firing on the manned turrets along the main gate.

**INT. DAHMYR SECURITY BASE, CONTROL ROOM - DAY**

A uniformed First Order officer watches the violence from a large window. All personnel in the room brace when the room shakes as the facility takes more fire.

An officer shouts into his comms: “Take out their air support now!” He gets off comms and looks around jerkily. “Someone get our comms back online!”

“They took out the communication tower, sir!” replies a technician. “We can only get a signal from one of the ships!”

“Then get to the landing pad!”

**EXT. DAHMYR SECURITY BASE - DAY** ****

Cannons fire at the X-Wing Fighters. The ships dodge fire well, but one Red Squadron ship is struck.

“I’m hit!” yells Red Three. Smoke billows from the ship’s wing and it quickly flies out of control and crashes into the back of the compound. 

Another fighter fires at the cannons, partially disabling it. Three more remain functional. 

**EXT. DAHMYR SECURITY BASE, MAIN GATE - DAY**

The final manned turret is destroyed by the ground team. Within the compound, prisoners have overtaken the guards, and open the main gate, letting the Resistance fighters inside.

A young woman, Paige Tico, in her late twenties, and armed with a rifle and several grenades, speaks on the comms. “We’ve breached the gate. Team One splitting off.”

**INT. RESISTANCE CRUISER CONTROL ROOM - SPACESCAPE**

Leia looks on assuredly, but she cannot celebrate just yet. The energy is high among the other personnel. Monitors blink, beep, and chime, indicating movement around the facility. One monitor begins to beep urgently and Lieutenant Connix reviews it before getting back on the comms. 

“Ground team, we have movement in the landing bay. Secure those ships.”

**EXT. DAHMYR SECURITY BASE, LANDING BAY - DAY**

A First Order Technician runs from the facility, into the sparsely manned landing bay. He runs in a crouch, startling with every blaster shot fired. Resistance fighters rush in from the opposite side of the landing bay and begin firing at First Order personnel. A bolt narrowly misses the technician, who drops to the ground behind some heavy crates.

Ground Team Three advances on the landing bay security. They disperse, finding cover in the landing bay as they exchange fire with the other side. A resistance fighter takes a bolt to the shoulder, dropping a grenade. It rolls away and explodes under a nearby ship, stunning everyone in the landing bay.

With cover from the smoke, Paige advances. She shoots two Stormtroopers. Only one ship remains intact, the others have all taken too much damage.

Two Resistance fighters flank Paige, all three of whom duck behind crates when a group of Shadowtroopers pour into the space and begin firing. The technician makes a run for the remaining ship 

“There!” Paige shouts, and fires her blaster at the technician. One bolt grazes his leg and he falls. One of the fighters behind her is hit. A Shadowtrooper throws a grenade and it lands a few feet from Paige. 

“Run!” the other fighter shouts.

Paige bolts away and dives, the grenade explodes, throwing Resistance and First Order back all the same.

**INT. POE’S X-WING FIGHTER**

Poe spots the explosion from the cockpit of his ship, as he locks in on one of the cannons. The targeting system beeps loudly as he fires, landing the shot and sending the cannon up in flames. 

“Ground Team Three, report!” he shouts into the comms. He receives no response. 

A blast from a manned turret hits the X-Wing. BB-8 beeps in alarm.

“I know, I know!” Poe exclaims, flicking switches and pressing buttons urgently, silencing the alarms from his equipment. 

“My targeting system is fried! BB-8 get down there and see what you can do!” 

BB-8 beeps in assurance and ducks into its port. The interior is an array of wires and plugs and lights. The ports spark and BB-8 plugs in one of its appendages to stifle it. Sparks burst forth from another port and BB-8 plugs in another appendage, beeping nervously. 

**EXT. DAHMYR SECURITY BASE, LANDING BAY - DAY**

Covered in debris and blood, Paige stirs, coughing. As she reorients herself she cries out in pain. Her leg and chest are badly injured and a wound on her head drips blood through her her eyebrow. 

She rolls onto her stomach and grabs her rifle, dragging herself forward by her arms. She aims her rifle at the ship, where the First Order technician limps toward the still functional ship. She clutches at a crescent-shaped medallion she wears as a necklace. The technician stumbles and begins crawling up the loading ramp.

**INT. POE’S X-WING FIGHTER**

“How’s it going down there, BB-8?!” Poe calls urgently.

The droid has five appendages in various ports. It beeps in frustration, withdrawing all its appendages and jams its head against the panel instead. Tendrils of electricity shock BB-8 and it screams in excited discomfort. This does the trick, the targeting apparatus comes back online. 

“Atta boy!” cheers Poe, letting out an excited laugh. 

He fires upon the visible Troopers in the landing bay, taking out as many as ten in one fly-by.

**EXT. DAHMYR SECURITY BASE, CONTROL ROOM - DAY**

Resistance fighters breach the control room, exchanging fire with the officers inside. Many technicians attempt to flee out the back exit. A Resistance fighter throws a stun grenade and the team braces themselves out of range. 

It explodes, rendering everyone inside unconscious and the equipment temporarily disabled.

“Control room seized,” reports a Resistance fighter. “First Order personnel will be taken prisoner.”

**EXT. DAHMYR SECURITY BASE, LANDING BAY - DAY**

A Shadowtrooper with badly damaged armour rises from the debris, fumbling with a blaster. There is a ringing, in the air, a testament to the disorientation of everyone in the landing bay. The Shadowtrooper sees Paige in the dust with her rifle and starts toward her from behind. The technician had dropped behind a crate, scared by Poe’s cover fire. The Shadowtrooper raises his blaster.

At the same time, the Shadowtrooper fires and is fired upon. Paige is struck in the back just as she fires her rifle. Her bolt hits the communications panel of the ship before her and shorts it out. It catches on fire and the First Order technician scrambles back in defeat. 

Another Resistance fighter rushes over to Paige, hauling the Shadowtroopers body out of the way. She kneels next to Paige who has slumped unconscious next to her rifle, clutching her medallion. 

“Landing bay secured,” she says on her comms. “We need medical assistance and fire suppression.

**EXT. DAHMYR SECURITY BASE - DAY**

Smoke billows from several locations around the base. Prisoners leave the compound in droves, heading for the towns. Others assemble with Resistance fighters, emboldened by the siege. 

First Order forces are rounded up and taken to the same place where their prisoners were once held. Troopers have been stripped of their armour as well. 

The X-Wing Fighters land nearby. Poe opens his cockpit canopy and gets out of his ship. Looking around at the damage to both his team and the compound. 

“The base is secure, repeat, the base is secure,” Poe says on comms. “We got it, General. We have a few medevacs, but we’re okay.”

**INT. RESISTANCE CRUISER CONTROL ROOM**

Cheers erupt throughout the control room. Leia lets herself smile. She holds up a hand to quiet the room.

“Good work, Commander,” she says. “Phase Three personnel are on their way. See you soon.”

**EXT. DAHMYR SECURITY BASE - DAY**

He gets off the comms and lets out a heavy breath, lifting a hand to undo his helmet and take it off. His breathing comes in sharply and out too fast as he takes in the scene around him, everything moving as if in slow motion. 

BB-8 beeps as it is released from its port, and rolls to Poe’s side. He coughs as smoke rolls in, and it forces him to breathe again. Poe wipes an errant tear from his cheek and blinks against the smoke, stepping away from his ship to offer assistance where he can.

  
  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading! I am always curious to know which elements of my work stand out to readers, such as a particular line of dialogue or description. Please let me know! These chapters will likely remain around the 2-3k range, and I hope to post them at least twice a month, thank you for your interest. You can find me on tumblr @ talldyke.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading this far. I hope you enjoy what I'm working on here! Stick with me, chapter 3 is Finn's introduction.

**INT. FIRST ORDER COMMUNICATIONS CHAMBERS**

Kylo Ren stands before an observation window. On the right side of his face, a silver and black diamond-patterned bandage follows the length of the wound he received from Rey in the forest on Starkiller Base, disappearing under the collar of his robes. His left arm is in a sling, he holds his helmet with the other.

The window darkens and Ren turns around, putting his helmet back on. He strides over to an elevated platform and struggles to kneel down on one knee. Within a few moments, a giant holographic image of Supreme Leader Snoke appears within the massive chambers.

“Lord Ren,” Snoke greets, his raspy voice booming throughout the space. “Your conflicted thoughts are a hindrance to your recovery. I am disappointed. They are a rot I taught you to purge years ago and yet you persist.”

Kylo’s reply comes through the filter of his mask. “My thoughts are clear, master,” he says. “I have followed your guidance. I have channelled my pain into seeking the girl through the Force—” 

“And yet your pain still holds you back!” Snoke shouts. “You have too much of your father’s heart in you, young Solo.”

“I killed Han Solo!” Kylo exclaims. “When the moment came I didn’t hesitate!”

Snoke gives a growl of discontent. “Look at you. The deed has split your spirit to the bone!” 

Kylo lowers his head, his hand a fist at his side. 

“When I found you, it was the fate any master could dream of. Raw, unprecedented power. The potential of your bloodline. The opportunity to mold a new Vader.”

“I gave everything to you. To the Dark Side— in his honour.” Kylo lifts his head. 

“Take that ridiculous mask off!” Snoke demands.

Immediately, but reluctantly, Kylo Ren removes his helmet and places it on the floor before him. His gaze remains trained at the floor.

“You are not worthy of the memory that mask inspires. You are no Vader!” Snoke sneers. “You are unbalanced! You were bested by a girl who had never held a lightsaber— you failed!”

Kylo stands abruptly, in anger. He is just as quickly thrown off his feet with a burst of electricity. He is held a foot off the floor, his sling is torn from him, as his arms and legs forced back and away from him like a scientific specimen.

The hologram shudders. A few yards away, cast in shadow, Snoke stands with his hand outstretched, keeping Kylo Ren strung up with the Force.

“Skywalker lives,” he says, quieter now. “The seed of the Jedi Order lives! And with it, hope still lives in the galaxy. There was a time I believed you would rout it, but you are not Vader yet. You’re no more than a boy in a mask.”

Snoke releases Kylo Ren, and he falls onto his hands and knees. When he looks up, the chamber is empty. Sweat beads on his forehead, he is shaking and his under eye twitches. He looks down at his mask.

**INT. FIRST ORDER ELEVATOR**

The elevator hums idly as it descends. Kylo Ren takes in slow, audible breaths, still shaking. He looks down at his helmet in his right hand. His breathing goes ragged.

Kylo Ren slams his helmet into the elevator wall, crying out at the pain it causes him. After a few pained breaths, he lets out an anguished yell and slams his helmet into the glass-panelled wall in chaotic repetition. 

**INT. FIRST ORDER OPERATIONS DECK**

Two officers stand at attention when the elevator doors slide open. Kylo Ren stalks past them, the knuckles of his right hand are bloodied and broken and have taken on a bruised brown and purple cast. 

“Have a medical droid sent to my chambers immediately.”

On the elevator floor lies shattered glass and the fractured and crushed remains of Kylo Ren’s helmet.

**EXT. AHCH-TO CLIFFTOP - DAY**

Rey, overwhelmed and exhausted from her hike to the cliff top, holds out the lightsaber that Maz Kanata gave her on Takodana. Before her, Luke Skywalker stands hooded, and takes the lightsaber in his left hand, looking at the weapon as if he were looking at a ghost. 

There is heartbreak in his eyes as he tears his gaze away from the lightsaber and trains it on Rey. As if overwhelmed with exhaustion he drops the lightsaber away from him and begins to walk away. 

“Master Skywalker?” Rey says urgently, scrambling for the lightsaber before following after him. 

“Why did you ring that here?” Luke asks without slowing. 

“As a token of goodwill!” she says. “It was yours, wasn’t it? And your fathers?”

Luke stops and turns to face her, looking at her searchingly, almost suspicious. “Why are you here?” 

Rey frowns. “I’m with the Resistance. They need your help. Your sister—”

“Who are you?”

“Nobody,” Rey replies soberly. “Rey. The Resistance—”

“ _ The Resistance needs my help _ ,” he repeats. “But why you. Why did you come?”

Rey falters, not expecting that question. She chooses her words carefully. 

“Something awoke in me,” she says. “Something I don’t understand. I was told to stop looking behind me, and accepting that means looking forward. And that led to you.”

Luke considers her answer, and motions with his prosthetic hand for her to follow him. He begins walking again. Rey follows him.

“So you have the Force. What do you know about it?” Luke asks.

Rey remains a few steps behind at any given moment.

“It’s a power, it’s in everything,” she begins. “You can use it to look inside people’s minds— to control people… and… to lift things.” 

“What has it done for you?” 

Rey is quiet for a few paces, trudging along the path behind Luke. “It hid my thoughts and freed me from restraints… it let me pull that lightsaber to me and—”

“No,” Luke says, interrupting, looking at her again. “Not  _ what have you done with it _ ,  _ what has it done for you _ ?”

Rey looks at him, not understanding his words until she thinks on them. Her eyes widen a little when it finally clicks. 

“It helped me protect my friend.”

Luke smiles and nods, “That’s better.” 

They continue their way down the opposite side of the cliff. Dozens of dome-shaped, stone huts make up something akin to a settlement.

Rey comes to a stop next to Luke taking in the view, and he looks at her as she does, with a conflicted look on his face. Something sad and proud.

“All of the huts are occupied. If you intend to stay longer than a night, you’ll have to build your own. You can stay in the library for the night.” 

“That’s alright, I can sleep on the Falcon,” she says, but then her face falls. Realizing.

“The Falcon?” Luke asks. “Han lost that years ago.”

A bitter gust of wind makes the tears in Rey’s eyes well over and onto her cheeks. The Falcon was Han Solo’s ship, and she had watched him die.

“It was on Jakku,” Rey says, her voice breaking. “Chewie was my co-pilot here.”

Luke exhales shakily when the realization hits him. “What about Han?”

**INT. MILLENIUM FALCON MAIN HOLD - SUNSET**

Luke sits in the booth behind the Dejarik board, shoulders slumped. He runs his fingers over the board and shuts his eyes. In his other hand, he clutches Han’s golden dice trinket. Chewbacca stands behind him, with a comforting paw on his shoulder, he gives a mournful howl.

“Leia knew Ben had the Force by the time he was four,” Luke says, clearing his throat and looking up at Rey who sits in the booth opposite him. “Han didn’t want me to train him, but he needed the guidance.” 

Luke takes a deep breath and looks around the space. He opens his hand and lets the dice fall onto the table. 

“He stayed with me while they were on trips. He saw what I was building— the new Jedi temple. It invigorated him.” Luke’s words are weighted by a deep grief and painful memories. “Ben came to the temple full-time when he was eleven. I sensed something different in him then. Looking back, I suppose that was the first hint of Snoke’s influence on him.”

Chewie howls encouragingly. 

“He was turned with the Darth Vader myths, convinced Leia and I were holding him back from greatness. I realized too late that he was feeding these same notions to some of his peers.”

Luke stands, and walks past Chewie and Rey, toward the exit. Rey follows him down the ramp into the orange glow of a dual sunset. 

“Master Skywalker,” she calls. 

“Don’t follow me,” Luke replies. “We’ll speak more over a meal. Come to the fire pit when you hear the gongs.”

Rey heeds his request, watching him walk away. Rey sighs and disappears inside the Falcon.

**EXT. AHCH-TO FIRE PIT - NIGHT**

The fire pit looks well used and well maintained. Rey sits before the fire with a metal dish and spork on her lap, stirring the food around in the dish. Over the fire, something akin to fish and vegetables cook over a metal grate. 

Luke tends to the food, unbothered by the presence of about a dozen small bird-like creatures with large eyes and little upturned mouths. They blink and waddle closer to the light of the fire, but venture no further. 

“What are they?” Rey asks.

Without looking up, Luke gives her a small smile. “Porgs, they’re harmless.”

Rey leans forward. “Why don’t you eat them?” she whispers.

Luke laughs. “Their meat is very bitter.”

Rey looks at the porgs nearest to her. They back away as though they know what she has just asked. She finishes her food and puts the dish down beside her, looking out into the darkness. She sees many of the same stone huts she’d seen earlier, now up close. 

Further away, she sees two larger structures built around a tree. A tinny ringing fills her ears and whispers, whispers similar to those she heard on Takodana. 

“If you want to be taught you will have to stay,” Luke says. 

Rey blinks, tearing her gaze away from the tree, and looks at Luke instead. “The Resistance needs your help,” she replies. 

“The best help I can be, is to you. Here.”

“That’s not true,” Rey argues, but Luke holds up a hand, and she lets out a heavy breath.

“You want to understand what awoke in you?” 

Rey nods. 

“Then we start tomorrow.” He serves himself, and steps away from the fire. “Get some rest.” 

He leaves Rey by the fire, retreating to his own hut. She watches the flames for a moment, before glancing back at the three and twin domed stone structures. The whispers reach her ears again, but she stands and turns her back on the fire, heading up the path and back to the Falcon.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading! I am always curious to know which elements of my work stand out to readers, such as a particular line of dialogue or description. Please let me know! You can find me on tumblr @ talldyke.


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So nice to see over 65 hits on this work so far. I hope you're enjoying yourselves. Finn gets his introduction in this chapter!

**INT. RESISTANCE CRUISER LOADING BAY - SPACESCAPE**

Resistance personnel load up a transport ship, moving around the space with familiar cohesion. Some people load carts, others repair smaller ships. Poe follows a line of personnel, some either pushing stretchers or offering an arm to the other injured. BB-8 rolls at Poe’s side. 

Leia stands to the side, speaking intently with a taller woman. She has her purple and silver hair done in elaborate braids, her charcoal coloured uniform with a complimentary cape adds to the impression of her height. Poe steps up to them, nodding at Leia respectfully. 

“General Organa,” he greets. 

“Commander Dameron, this is Vice Admiral Amilyn Holdo,” Leia says, motioning at the other woman. “She will be overseeing the lunar base until future notice.”

Poe nods to Holdo, reaching out to shake her hand. “I’m honoured to meet you, ma’am.”

“I’ve heard a lot about you, Commander. That was some top-notch flying out there.” She shakes his hand firmly.

“Thank you. We lost some good people today though.”

Holdo nods somberly. “The success of this mission will protect many more. Their lives will not be forgotten.” 

She clasps his shoulder reassuringly and then nods to Leia. A crewmember approaches. 

“The transport is ready, ma’am.”

Holdo looks between Leia and Poe. “We’ll see each other again soon.” 

They watch Holdo board her transport. Leia turns to Poe. 

“Once these transport ships get safely down to Dahmyr we’re getting back to base.”

“Glad to hear it, General.” 

Leia looks at him pointedly. “Get some rest, Commander. I need you in tip-top shape.”

He breathes a laugh. “Yes, ma’am.”

**INT. KYLO REN’S PERSONAL CHAMBERS**

A medical droid floats by Kylo Ren’s side. He sits shirtless on a black meditation cushion. On a pedestal sits the broken helmet of Darth Vader, enshrined and on display. The droid attends simultaneously to the healing wound on his shoulder, the wound on his abdomen, and the long tracking wound from his face down his neck and chest. 

The shoulder and abdominal wounds appear the most healed, and within seconds of the droid’s assistance, the wound’s angry red appearance calms and pales. The scar on his face and chest remains angrier once the droid does one pass. The droid moves to Kylo’s hand and closes the wounds on his knuckles.

“That will be all,” he says. 

The droid chirps in confusion. Kylo’s hand is still dark, and swollen and bruised.

“That will be all,” he repeats, more forcefully now. “Go to the door and switch to standby mode.”

The droid beeps, acquiescing. It retracts its various arms and floats to a corner where its lights dim.

Kylo Ren rolls his shoulders and clears his throat, setting his broken hand on his lap carefully. He shuts his eyes, frowning, and begins to breathe slowly in and out. 

Slowly, he begins to tighten his injured hand into a fist.

He grunts, shuddering as he continues to breathe through the pain. Kylo brings himself back to the interrogation chamber with Rey, and then to the snowy forest— his lightsaber clashing with the one Rey had no right to— as Starkiller base crumbled around them.

With another shaking breath, Kylo Ren tightens his fist again. His under-eye twitches and sweat beads on his forehead. He pushes himself further, letting the anger and the fear and the loathing he felt from her in the forest sink into him once again.

He follows it, all of it, holding his even more tightly now, jaw clenched as if on the verge of lamentation. And he sees her, faintly. 

He sees Rey the scavenger, asleep on a cot in the crew quarters of his father’s ship.

Kylo Ren releases his injured hand and screams.

**INT. MILLENNIUM FALCON CREW QUARTERS - NIGHT**

Rey awakens with a start, disoriented for a few seconds until she realizes where she is. The lights are dim in the Falcon as she sits up, running her hands over her face and hair. 

She frowns as the whispers return, the same from Takodana, and much louder now. 

Grabbing her bag, Rey makes her way out of the Millenium Falcon, letting the whispers guide her. This time she isn’t afraid of them. 

**EXT. AHCH-TO ISLAND - NIGHT**

With small torches lighting the pebbled path, Rey appears to be caught in a trance. She passes the now-dead fire she’d sat at with Luke, and presses on down the path toward the twin stone structures and the large tree they were built around.

**INT. AHCH-TO ARCHIVES - NIGHT**

Rey pushes open the wide door and ducks inside the hut. The only light comes from an opening in the ceiling. Rey approaches the side of the apparently hollow tree, surprised to see that it is indeed alive and merely misshapen. It borders the top of a deep-set stone staircase. 

Rey reaches out and touches the bark, running her hands over it. A ringing fills her ears, and her eyes are drawn to a dim glow from levels below.

Rey begins down the stairs. 

She follows that glow when she reaches the bottom, taking in the shelves of holobooks and holocrons of various differently shaped polyhedrons. Rey does not recognize these for what they are, she merely walks among the shelves, drawn still toward a single glowing cube.

Rey lifts the cube off the shelf, and the ringing in her ears grows louder. She clutches the holocron in her hands, breathing hard as she looks over the crystalline designs among its structures.

She turns then, and drops the holocron on a wooden table behind her with metallic patterns interlaced throughout it.

A sudden rush of wind cleans the space of dust and sand, hurling past Rey in a tornado and disappearing up the stairs. Rey closes her eyes, remembering Maz Kanata’s words at the cantina, remembers the lush greenery of the planet. 

The holocron brightens and the corners of the cube rotate, changing its shape. A circular compartment clicks open and Rey opens her eyes, gasping as she takes in the holographic text and diagrams that are suddenly projected in the dark space above the hologram. 

“... I know the Force...” Maz’s voice shudders through Rey’s memory. “It moves through and surrounds every living thing. Close your eyes, feel it.” Rey’s gaze darts among the text, and she takes in a shaky breath. “The light,” the memory continues, “It’s always been there. It will guide you…”

The memory falters as the emotions she had been feeling come to a front. A tear rolls down her cheek, and she blinks, trying to keep on reading, but her ears ring loudly and she cries out, shutting her eyes and clutching at the side of her head. 

Rey screams and staggers back, seeing Kylo Ren at the end of the corridor of shelves. But when her back hits the wall she finds herself alone. 

Rey flees, abandoning the holocron and running for the stairs, overwhelmed by the same sense of pursuit she had felt in the forest at Nymeve Lake at Maz’s Castle.

The ragged sound of Kylo Ren’s lightsaber pushes her to climb the stairs faster, finally rushing to the top. Rey trips, falling to her hands and knees, and her blaster skitters across the stone floor. She scrambles to pick it up, but when she tries to stand, she is no longer in the archives.

**INT. KYLO REN’s PERSONAL CHAMBERS - FORCE PROJECTION**

Rey looks around her frantically, chest heaving in her panic. She backs up against the nearest wall, starkly aware that this space is much like the one she had been held in for interrogation by Kylo Ren. 

Her face is damp with sweat, and her expression is strained. Everything is enhanced, brighter, louder— more. The ringing pierces her ears, more than sound, and she clutches at her head with a whimper.

Kylo Ren kneels a few meters away, clutching the opposite side of his head, breathing just as heavily as she is, steeling himself against the pain he is in.

His under eyes appear more sickly, his complexion is clammy and pale, starkly contrasted by the blood dripping from his nose. 

With a shaking hand Rey touches her own nose and her fingertips come away wet and crimson

“Can you see my surroundings?” Kylo asks, voice echoing.

“Murderer!” Rey bites out.

He ignores her. “I can’t see yours. Just you.”

Rey catches a glimpse of Vader’s helmet on the display in the middle of the room. 

**INT. AHCH-TO ARCHIVES - NIGHT - FORCE PROJECTION**

Rey clutches her blaster, back still pressed against the wall of the large stone hut, and looks back at Kylo Ren. He stands unsteadily and takes a step toward her.

“What is this!” she demands accusatorily.

“A trial,” he replies plainly. “A test of my strength.”

Rey clenches her jaw, a low hum sounding in her ears as she attempts to push back against the intrusion as she had when he had attempted to interrogate her. The visual stutters, but returns in stark relief when Kylo Ren takes another step toward her.

“Stay away from me!” She aims her blaster at him.

He stops, rubbing his broken hand under his nose, smearing the blood. “My offer still stands,” he says, holding out his hand palm up to her. “You have tremendous strength. Let me teach you and you will grow even stronger.”

“I will never be your student! You killed Han— you killed your father!” Rey says venomously. “You would have killed Finn. My friends…” 

Kylo Ren advances on her, and Rey fires her blaster at him. He cries out and falls to his knees once again.

**INT. KYLO REN’S PERSONAL CHAMBERS - FORCE PROJECTION**

Kylo Ren clutches at his abdomen, a red welt visible where he had felt the bolt strike him.

**INT. AHCH-TO ARCHIVES - NIGHT - FORCE PROJECTION**

The ringing in Rey’s ears returns. She is alone. The sounds of medical equipment beep distantly. Rey turns around in a void of black, searching for the sounds. There is no up, nor down. She stumbles but remains upright. 

And then she sees it as clearly as she had seen Kylo Ren’s chambers. 

**INT. D’QUAR MEDICAL BAR - DAY - FORCE PROJECTION**

Rey sees Finn lying in the same bed he had been when she’d left. Nurses and medical droids move around the space, rushing around Finn’s bed.

A heartbeat, fast and erratic is the loudest thing Rey can hear. 

“Finn! Finn!” Rey screams, running over to the bed. 

The droids and people disappear, and Rey reaches for Finn’s hand, but she falls right through and onto the stone floor of the Ahch-To Archives.

**INT. AHCH-TO ARCHIVES - NIGHT**

Rey is alone in the large stone structure. The wall across from her is smoking and damaged from her blaster bolt, and pre-dawn light filters in from the opening in the ceiling. She remains in her hands and knees, stunned. 

Luke’s voice breaks through her haze. “Rey! Rey?” 

**INT. D’QUAR MEDICAL BAY - DAY**

Finn lies with a bacta suit slung around his torso, still comatose. Poe sits by his bedside. Finn’s heart rate begins to spike, and the faint sound of Rey’s voice shouting his name echoes in his mind. Rey’s hand grasps Finn’s and he awakens with a start. 

“Rey!” he shouts. 

But she is not there. Only a team of medical personnel, opening his oxygen pod and chattering reassurances at him. Finn struggles against the equipment, disoriented and afraid, until he sees Poe’s face through the throng of nurses and droids. 

“Finn, take it easy,” Poe says urgently. “You were hurt pretty bad.” 

Finn reaches for Poe’s hand and Poe gives it to him, gripping it reassuringly. Finn calms considerably. 

“Poe… Poe, where’s Rey?” 

Poe squeezes Finn’s hand. “Rey went to find Luke Skywalker.”

Finn holds Poe’s gaze for a long few seconds, and then nods. 

“I gotta get up.”

**INT. D’QUAR MEDICAL BAY - DAY - LATER**

Finn sits on an examination table, with a medical droid behind him prodding at the wound on his back. Poe stands in front of Finn, letting him brace his hand on his shoulder for support as the droid completes its procedure.

“It’s almost done,” Poe assures.

Finn sighs through a clenched jaw. “I’m alright, I didn’t have anyone to hold onto in the First Order.” There is humour in his voice, and he manages to give Poe a smile. 

Poe returns the smile and pats Finn’s hand. The droid beeps and a nurse scans Finn’s wound.

“Won’t be long now,” she says.

She waves her hand and the droid begins its final step of the treatment. Finn visibly relaxes when a soothing bacta balm is administered along the length of his wound— now little more than a long scar. The droid places a long strip of gold scale-patterned bandage along the scar, and finally floats away.

“You’re all done,” Poe says. 

Finn nods to the nurse, “Thank you.” He turns back to Poe, lowering his hand from Poe’s shoulder. “Are you sure Rey is alright?” 

Poe frowns, but nods. “As sure as I’m standing right here. What’s worrying you?” 

Finn looks down, shaking his head. “It felt like a dream… she was calling my name. She sounded scared.”

Leia enters the medical bay carrying a bundle of clothes and Finn’s gifted pilot’s jacket in her arms. 

“It’s very nice to see you up again, Finn,” she says, handing him the clothes. 

“Thank you, ma’am.” He takes the black shirt from the bundle and puts it on carefully, as if he expects the movement to hurt, but is relieved to find that it does not.

Leia holds up the jacket, turning it around to show him the patch job that had been done on it. She looks at Poe who looks very glad to see the jacket again. 

“I made sure  _ your _ jacket got fixed up too. Seemed a shame to let it be thrown away.”

Finn takes the jacket, a slow grin spreading across his face. A slightly lighter tan coloured leather covers the damage Kylo Ren’s lightsaber had inflicted. Finn puts on the jacket. 

“Thank you— both of you,” he says, and then looks at Leia in earnest. “Poe told me Rey went to find Luke Skywalker.”

Leia nods. “It wasn’t easy for her. She wouldn’t leave your side until she was assured you were in stable condition.”

Suddenly remembering in a rush of emotion, Finn’s face falls. 

“General Organa— I’m so sorry— I’m so sorry about Han.”

Leia merely nods sadly, and then pulls a small beacon from her pocket. Both Finn and Poe are familiar with the technology.

“I gave Rey the other half of this set. It’s untrackable, and no matter where we are, she’ll be able to find her way home with it.”

Finn nods, and watches Leia replace the beacon in her pocket.

“I felt her— Rey,” Finn says earnestly. “That’s what woke me up. She sounded scared, she was calling my name. I could have sworn she touched my hand.”

Leia looks deeply at Finn, nodding understandingly. She had felt the love he held for her when they first met on Takodana. She had felt his determination to help her, despite his fear. 

“Training with the Force is an emotional process,” Leia says. “I have no doubt that she’s safe with Luke… and Chewie is with her too.” Leia’s gaze grows distant, as if lost in memory, but just as quickly, she looks at Finn again. “If something like that happens again, you tell me, alright?”

“I will, ma’am,” Finn agrees. 

Leia smiles encouragingly. “Otherwise, how are you feeling.”

“Eager to move again, ma’am.”

Leia looks at Poe as she speaks. “Passed all the examinations?” 

“He did,” Poe says. “He’s real lucky.”

“I don’t want you to push yourself, that injury was not to be taken lightly.”

She and Poe exchange looks. 

“What is it?” Finn asks. 

Poe seems reluctant to answer, but Leia nods approvingly. 

“We have a new guest thanks to one of General Organa’s deep cover spies,” Poe explains. “He… hadn’t officially defected from the First Order— because he’s in a coma— but it doesn’t seem possible for him to return either…” 

Finn frowns, picking up on Leia’s and Poe’s respective nervous energies about this  _ guest. _ He dreads the answer before the question leaves his mouth. 

“Who is it?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading! I am always curious to know which elements of my work stand out to readers, such as a particular line of dialogue or description. Please let me know! You can find me on tumblr @ talldyke.


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm taking advantage of my time off before school starts up again to write as much of this as I can. My posting schedule will slow down in January, but I hope to keep updates regular at every Friday (or every second Friday). Hope you're enjoying the story so far!

**INT. AHCH-TO, LUKE’S HUT - MORNING**

Rey sits on a cot with a blanket wrapped around her shoulders. Her cheeks are wet from tears and blood is smeared under her nose. Luke wrings out a cloth over a bucket of steaming water. He hands her cloth.

“Here,” he says. “Wipe your face.”

Rey takes it and holds it over her eyes from a moment, before she rubs her cheeks, and then her nose and lips. She doesn’t hand it back to Luke when she’s finished, just holds it, appearing a little dazed. Luke takes it from her and drops it in the bucket. 

Luke drags a stool over to her, and sits on it, looking at her earnestly. 

“You were experiencing a Force Projection,” he begins, carefully. “I’ve only ever read about it. It’s an ability only the strongest Force-users were ever been able to harness.”

“I saw Kylo Ren. He was in pain as well— his hand… his hand was broken. I could feel it.” Rey flexes her hand, testing it. 

“The dark side uses pain in their practice. As a guide or a focal point.” 

Rey can’t quite bring herself to look at him. “He tried interrogating me. He tried to look inside my mind again, and he failed. I couldn’t push him out while we were projected…” Rey shudders and clutches at the blanket around her shoulders. “I couldn’t get out. Not until I shot him.”

She clutches her hand into a fist. “Everything was raw,” she says. “Sound, colour, light… I could  _ feel _ everything. I could feel the room around me— I could feel Kylo Ren… his desperation and pain…” her eyes flutter but she doesn’t close them. “I felt Finn… I felt everything alive on the island…”

Luke feels cold as Rey’s gaze turns on him. Her eyes are a dagger of reality, not suspicious nor accusatory, but confused, aggrieved, and lost. Searching. 

“I didn’t feel you, Luke.”

Luke turns away, standing running his hands over his hair.

“You’ve cut yourself off from it,” Rey says.

“I don’t deserve it!” Luke replies, shoulders slumping. “Not after losing Ben. Failing Leia, failing those children… my students.”

Rey stands, “You’re the only Master Jedi left! The Archives are here… the history of the Jedi—”

Luke faces her. “The old Jedi Order is what destroyed my father. Their methods sent him down a path to Darkness because his love and fear were manipulated by a man who only saw him for his power.” Luke sighs, regret in his expression. 

“Learning the history of the Jedi is the only way I know that they were wrong,” Luke explains carefully. “I tried doing it their way, and I missed the same manipulations happening to my nephew. The Jedi need to end.”

“I can’t do this alone,” Rey pleads. “I need help, I need a teacher.”

Luke shakes his head. “I can’t teach you how to be a Jedi. But I can teach you how to use the Force. For your friend.”

Rey lets out a relieved breath. “Will you come back with me? To the Resistance?”

She watches Luke step over to a crate at the other side of the hut. He opens it and retrieves another holobook, which he hands to Rey. 

“I’m not going anywhere until I’m confident you understand the strength you have.” He points at the holobook. “Read that over. It has all the instructions on how to build a hut. I’ll show you where you can build yours.”

“What does building a hut have to do with the Force?” she asks. 

Luke smiles. “Physical exertion is cathartic,” he says, reaching out to clasp her shoulder reassuringly. “I’m going to the far side of the island. I’ll be back by the time you’re done, if not sooner.” He pats her cheek affectionately and walks past her to the door.

**INT. D’QUAR SECURE HOLDING CELL**

Finn paces back and forth in front of a barred holding cell, glowing blue from the energy field. Within the cell lies a man submerged in a bacta tank, immobile and unconscious. He has close-cropped, dark hair, and dark tanned skin. His uniform sits in a crate in the corner, bright red pieces of shiny armour peeking out.

Leia stands with Poe at her side, out of Finn’s way. Poe shifts as though to comfort Finn, but Leia holds out a hand in restraint, allowing Finn his moment of crisis. 

“Captain— Captain Cardinal!? Captain Cardinal— Cardinal!? You gotta be kidding me,” Finn stops pacing and stands before the cell, peering in and taking a few heavy and slow breaths. “How did you get him?” 

Leia sighs, smiling sympathetically. “Vi, you can come in now.” 

A woman enters the room. She is tall and muscular, with pretty eyes and skin almost as brown as Finn’s. Her tight curly hair is dyed near-white, and she has a broad smile on her face that gives the sneaking suspicion that she might know a secret about you.

“You must be Finn,” she says in greeting.

Finn points at Cardinal through the glass. “And that— that is, that man,” he stammers, words failing him. 

Vi raises a brow, her smile sobering, amusement making way for sympathy. Finn takes a deep breath and composes himself, scrubbing a hand over his face. 

“That man raised me,” he says. “He was my teacher, trained me— the children. Before graduating us to Phasma’s program.” Finn looks uncertainly to Poe and Leia, as though expecting judgement or disgust, but he is met with nothing less than encouragement in their faces. 

“You know the story already?” Finn asks. 

Leia nods. “I was present at Vi’s debrief. Cardinal’s presence here, and her intel are incredibly valuable.”

Vi steps over to Finn and clasps a hand on his shoulder. “Cardinal intercepted my ship,” she says, pointing at him through the glass. “I was on a mission for General Organa to secure information on Captain Phasma. He wanted that intel as well. And he got it.”

Finn frowns, looking between Vi and Cardinal. “Phasma’s arrival was very sudden,” he recalls cooly. “She was nothing like Cardinal. I was only twelve, but within six months she was taking over the training of the adult troops.”

“Cardinal didn’t like her takeover either,” Vi smirks. “He got the dirt he wanted, but Phasma got the better of him.” She chuckles and shoves her hands in her jacket pockets. “I saved his ass. She’d left him for dead.” She pauses, watching Finn watch Cardinal for a few seconds. 

“Finn,” Vi says. Finn meets her imploring gaze. “He saw her face.”

**INT. FIRST ORDER CONFERENCE ROOM**

General Hux stands at attention in a spacious room. A large black conference table sits in the center of the room, bordered by chairs. Hux appears under-rested, but this is only evident by the shadows under his eyes. 

Two training supervisors stand out of the way, ready for orders. Before them stand two children, no older than 8. They wear grey uniforms and their hair is buzzed short. They stand with attentive postures, but despite this, they appear nervous. One of them, a boy, has a bruise on his cheek.

The doors slide open and Captain Phasma enters, chrome armour shining without so much as a smudge on it. She is accompanied by Kylo Ren, he is sans helmet and stoic in his composure. 

“AQ-2489 and RE-5210 for your assessment, Lord Ren,” Hux announces. 

Phasma stands next to Hux. “They are above average students, however prone to bouts of aggression. Typical disciplinary action  _ has _ been effective in countering the behaviour.”

The children regard Phasma with revere, attempting to stand taller and straighter in her presence. The criticism of their behaviour does little to discourage their attempts to please her.

Kylo Ren turns to the supervisors.

“You believe one of them is Force-sensitive?” he asks.

The taller supervisor nods. “Yes, Lord Ren. They were flagged for incidents during simulation training. We were told to inform Captain Phasma and yourself of such occurrences.”

“Very well,” Kylo Ren replies.

He steps over to the children, dwarfing them by at least two and a half feet. He kneels before them, holding out his left hand, gloved, and looks both children in the eye.

“Do you understand why you’re here?” he asks them. 

“Yes, Lord Ren,” the children say in unison.

“I am going to test you. You understand that I am the Master of the Knights of Ren, yes?” 

The children nod. 

“Those who have the Force have great power and are held in high esteem,” he says. “If one of you has this power you will be transferred to the Absolution and you will be trained to harness the Force as one of the Knights.”

“I have heard stories,” RE-5210 says, the boy, with lightning blue eyes. “The Jedi were also revered Force users, is that right, Lord Ren?”

Kylo Ren meets the boy’s gaze, but does not answer him. 

He brings forth his left hand, held just below chin level between the two children. He pulls them in with the Force, making them both gasp. The boy whimpers and clenches his jaw. AQ-2486, a girl with pale vitiligo patches on dark skin, shudders and pants, her eyes glaring back at Kylo Ren like a caged animal. 

“You have to make this stop. Will it to stop,” Kylo instructs.

Panic writes itself across the children’s faces. General Hux shifts uncomfortably where he stands. The supervisors avoid looking at their wards. Phasma appears unphased. 

The girl lets out an angry grunt, and the boy frowns deeply, their faces going red from the strain put upon them. 

Hux loses his composure, “Lord Ren, perhaps this was a mistake—”

“Quiet,” he orders. 

The girl’s breathing comes in too-fast pants, but her gaze breaks away from Kylo Ren, dropping to his right hand which remains gloved, hiding the swollen and bruised mess he had inflicted on himself. 

The boy sobs, thick tears rolling down his cheeks. 

The girl screams and shoots out her hand. Kylo Ren recoils, grunting in pain, and drops his Force clutch on the children. The boy collapses, and the girl staggers into Captain Phasma, who grips the girl by the arm to keep her upright.

Kylo Ren smiles back at the girl, pulling off his glove to show the rest of the room his injured hand. He looks impressed. 

“It’s the girl. She has good instincts,” he says, showing his broken hand, before slipping his glove back on. “Have her transferred immediately. Return the boy to his training.”

Kylo Ren exits the room. 

Phasma lets go of the girl and plucks the boy, struggling to get up, off the floor by the back of his shirt, handing him off to one of the supervisors. The boy stands at attention, or as close to it as he can manage in his exhausted state. 

“Send RE-5210 for additional reconditioning before his reintegration with the regular class.”

“Yes ma’am,” says the shorter supervisor, who taps the visibly shaken boy on the shoulder. “This way, cadet.”

They leave.

“Congratulations, AQ-2486,” says Phasma, looking down at the girl. “You are dismissed from training. Your supervisor will escort you to your transport. May what you have learned here be of value to you in your future training.”

“May I decline the transfer, ma’am?” asks the girl, appearing slightly dazed and sweaty.

“No. What you possess is beyond the First Order’s ability to teach.”

The girl swallows hard. “May I request a final conditioning treatment, ma’am.”

Phasma considers her request in silence. General Hux shifts uncomfortably near the remaining supervisor.

“Take AQ-2486 to reconditioning. It would be appropriate to send Supreme Leader Snoke his newest student in fittest form.” Phasma gives a vague wave. “You are dismissed.”

**INT. D’QUAR CORRIDOR - DAY**

Vi and Finn speak together privately in a room adjoining the cell Cardinal is being held in. Leia and Poe stand just outside, having already heard Vi’s story for themselves. BB-8 rolls around near Poe’s legs.

“Your medical workup was interrupted, wasn’t it?” Leia asks, looking to Poe. 

“If I were coming out of a coma I would want to see a familiar face,” he replies. 

“He’ll be alright,” Leia insists. “I’d like you to go finish that workup.”

Poe reaches up and rubs the back of his neck. “Has my performance been subpar, ma’am?” he asks.

Leia looks at him fondly. “Have you been sleeping?”

“Like a rock,” Poe replies, a bit too quickly. 

BB-8 beeps skeptically, and Leia glances down at the droid with a knowing smile. Poe sighs. 

“Head hits the pillow and the next thing I know it’s time to get up again,” he shrugs. “I can do maybe three cycles before I start tossing and turning.”

“Nightmares?” Leia asks.

Poe clears his throat. “Some. Mostly from when… when Kylo Ren was extracting information from me.” He shakes his head. “I’ve never felt anything like that. Seering cold and scalding all at once… I couldn’t stop him, Leia, I couldn’t stop him—”

“Poe you have nothing to be ashamed of. What Be—  _ what you went through _ , it’s like any injury. It’ll take time to recover.”

“The First Order isn’t going to wait for us to get back on our feet when we fall,” Poe says grimly.

Leia puts a hand on her arm. “You’re my top pilot. You’re a leader here. Whatever you may be feeling, you take care of yourself so your head is right when the time counts. You hear me?” 

Poe smiles, patting her hand. “I hear you.”

“Good,” Leia says.

BB-8 beeps urgently, just as Lieutenant Connix rounds a corner and approaches them quickly.

“General, Commander! We just received a communication from Dahmyr, we have a problem.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading! I am always curious to know which elements of my work stand out to readers, such as a particular line of dialogue or description. Please let me know! You can find me on tumblr @ talldyke.


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I may have to slow down my posting schedule as my school term resumes! I certainly hope you're enjoying things so far. My intention is to post new chapters on Fridays, depending on turn around.

**EXT. AHCH-TO, HUT CONSTRUCTION - DAY**

Rey sits in the middle of the beginnings of her own hut. The stones have already been built up about a foot, including an established entryway. 

Her tools are scattered here and there, a skin of water is just out of reach. Her face is tan and red from the last few days in the sun, and she is dusty from her work.

The holobook of instruction sits nearby, and a pile of flat rocks are piled up just outside the circle, in front of her is a large bucket of sticky mud. She coats a stone with it and puts it down on her wall. 

A gust of wind blows hard enough to push her forward. Her wall remains sturdy. Rey looks up as the clouds rolling in over the island. 

Big thick drops of rain begin falling from the sky, and Rey smiles, feeling the first few drops hit her face. She shuts her eyes and grins, tilting her head back as the rain comes down heavily. 

Rey thinks of Takodana, Maz’s beautiful castle with its food more flavourful than she’d ever tasted, with all that green. The first green she’d ever experienced. 

But then that feeling changes. A deafening clap of thunder makes her jump, and the pain she wishes she weren’t familiar with hits her all over again. Rey clutches at the side of her head, whimpering as her ears ring. 

She looks over her shoulder resignedly. 

Kylo Ren stands alone in a training room, holding a harmless, pale-lit training lightsaber in his broken hand. Dummies and targets around him smoke from the violence he has inflicted upon them, but still the rain beats down on her.

“How is any of that useful if you keep harming yourself?” Rey asks, turning around. 

Kylo turns to face Rey. “Pain gives you direction— focus. You’re doing the same thing, aren’t you? This painstaking task?”

Rey frowns looking down at her hands on the wall. She takes her hands off the stone she had just set down. Kylo sighs. 

“It’s not the same thing,” Rey says. “This has a purpose.”

“So does this,” he replies. Kylo Ren disables the training lightsaber and places it on a rack. He tightens his broken hand into a fist and they both react— Rey shrinking back with a cry of pain and Kylo Ren with a grunt and shudder. 

The ringing in her ears returns, and she watches Kylo Ren breathe slowly but tensely through his pain. Tears sting Rey’s eyes and now the rain feels sharp and cold on her skin, gooseflesh rises on her arms.

“The Jedi considered fear and pain and anger a weakness. In the Dark they are your power.” He tightens his fist again and Rey whimpers, sound reverberates around her. Her breathing is fast and quick. “They are yours to control. The Dark Side can give you everything you desire.”

“I have what I need!” Rey retorts.

“You don’t have your family,” says Kylo Ren. 

“They are never coming back.” Though the words pain her to say, she knows they are the truth. “I can’t look behind me. They aren’t there.”

Again, Kylo Ren’s under-eye twitches and he clenches his jaw. The strain he is putting himself under has sweat beading on his forehead. 

“I was able to find you,” he taunts. “The Dark Side led me to you through a deep Force meditation. With practice, even the most evasive subjects can be found.”

“They abandoned me on Jakku!” Rey screams at him.

Rey’s swell of anger sharpens the ringing, and shoots reverberations of pain through both of their minds. Kylo Ren and Rey both clutch at their heads, crying out at the sudden overwhelm. 

“I found people to count on!” Rey gasps, recovering her venom. “One of them was your father! You killed him— for what?! You’re no stronger now! No more sure! You’re still afraid!”

“He was an obstacle! He was weak!” Kylo Ren shouts in reply. 

Rey glares at him accusingly, struggling to find her breath. “He loved you despite everything you’ve done!” 

“And that was his fatal mistake,” says Kylo Ren with impossible coldness.

“I’m not making that mistake,” she vows.

“You will fail,” Kylo Ren warns. “Luke Skywalker can’t teach you anything I don’t already know. He is weak and you will lose. And you’ll be alone again.”

A loud thunderous hum reverberates around them. While jarring, its presence eases Rey’s pain from the Force Projection and she takes in a gasping, clarifying breath.

A shock of lightning brightens the dark-clouded sky and Rey turns her head and looks at it, giving a cry of relief, soothed by the rain on her skin once again. 

When she looks back, Kylo Ren is not there.

**INT. FIRST ORDER TRAINING ROOM**

Water drips front Kylo Ren’s robes onto the training room floor. He shakes, the twitch returning under his eye and he screams in anguish, turning and striking the nearest training dummy with his broken hand.

**EXT. AHCH-TO, HUT CONSTRUCTION - DAY**

Rey remains sitting on the wet ground, breathing deeply and slowly through her parted, blood-stained lips. She is not afraid anymore. She shuts her eyes and keeps breathing, calming herself. 

“You’re safe.” She hears this in her mind, Luke’s voice. Like in a dream. Like the voices she heard on Takodana, but clearer.

Safe. 

She has only felt safe with two people, and only very recently. A pang of grief hits her when she thinks of Han Solo, the memory of seeing him and Finn so unexpectedly after she had escaped her interrogation.

She hears Finn in her memory, hears his words:  _ We came back for you. _

“Rey?”

Rey opens her eyes, gasping.

“Finn!”

“Rey?” He seems to stagger toward her, as if he can see her. 

She sees him. Her eyes well with tears and she smiles. His presence is not as clear as Kylo Ren’s had been.

“Are you okay? Why are you all wet? Is that blood?” 

She wipes under her nose and stands. Rey blinks, she can see some of his surroundings behind him. 

“You’re awake,” she says, stepping toward him, hands— still muddy from her work— reaching out to him. Finn grabs her hands.

The connection is lost.

**INT. AHCH-TO MEDITATION TEMPLE - SOME TIME EARLIER**

Through the mouth of a cave, a stream leads to a waterfall and a staircase that, in turn, leads to a mosaic of patterned tile making up the shallow pool floor of the meditation temple. Where the mosaic ends, Luke’s X-Wing Fighter is submerged in a deeper, shadowy corner of the cave. Sunlight spills in through natural openings in the cave, making the tile glitter. 

Through a canopy of water is a smaller chamber, where Luke now sits on a wide, flat stone just above the shallow water. 

He is in a deep Force meditation, opening himself back up to it. A deep hum is present in sound and feeling all around him, taking in the energy around him, searching and finding his connection to the Force again.

He seeks Leia through the Force, her existence an encouraging and soothing presence. He meditates on memories of times with her (her and Han) that brought him joy. 

The excitement of seeing Leia and Han after destroying the Death Star, the comfort he felt having Han and Leia at his bedside when he woke up on Hoth… The peace he felt after Endor, of telling Leia they were twins.

Other memories come: the birth of his nephew, a time of pride and love… His work after the Battle of Endor…

Memory and emotion and sound become sharp, saturated. Luke’s ears ring and he shuts his eyes harder, gasping at this sudden cast of Darkness resonating around him. 

Memories are blurred by panic and anger and despair; a woman in a dark cloak runs toward a ship with a bundle in her arms. 

“I have to go— I put everything at risk by staying!” The woman in his memory pleads with him— the younger more hopeful man he used to be. “These children are our future, I can’t jeopardize this.” 

Luke breathes heavily, trying to ground himself. He returns to a glowing memory of a baby girl in his arms, the weight of his grief lifted off his shoulders for a few instances before she disappears from his mind’s eye like smoke. 

His temple is burning and Ben Solo, no more than fifteen, is silhouetted by the red and orange flames. He boards a First Order ship in singed robes, with four more of his students— and the memory warps, shows the lost students shrouded in black: Knights of Ren.

The cast of Darkness eases and Luke can see his nephew for the man he has become, standing over Rey, his dark energy fighting to maintain control. With a deep and grounding breath, Luke reaches out, bolstering Rey against Kylo Ren’s Dark attack.

“You’re safe,” he promises. 

And then the connection is cut. 

No longer can he see Kylo Ren. Only Rey. 

But then, faintly, another. He sees Finn as Rey does, feels the same comfort and calm that she feels. And then, again, he senses Leia. 

Luke breaks from his meditation, rising quickly. His footsteps splash in the shallow water as he rushes from the temple.

**INT. D’QUAR, PRIVATE QUARTERS**

Finn reclines on a small bed, clutching a small pillow in his lap. The lights are dim and BB-8 is projecting a hologram of Rey in front of him. 

“... I don’t know how long I’ll be away,” the hologram plays, Rey is near tears, “... or what to expect when I arrive, but I know we’ll see each other again… we will. I’m sure of that… I’m not leaving you this time.”

With those words in his mind, he lays down, grimacing as his scar sends pinches of pain along his back. 

He aches for her, a desperate worry feeding his anxiety. With a heavy breath, Finn tries to reassure himself, thinking back to finding her on Starkiller Base, feeling so relieved that she was alright. The strength and comfort he had felt in their hug. 

The smell of petrichor reaches him like a dream, and the sound of rain— he can just about feel the mist on his skin. But his eyes are open, he is not dreaming, and she is there. 

“Rey?” he says.

He stands from the bed, narrowly avoiding kicking BB-8 as he walks into the living area. 

He sees her face light up. “Finn!” 

“Rey!” 

She looks like a ghost, but he is overwhelmed with joy for a few seconds until he realizes that she is soaking wet and bleeding. 

“Are you okay? Why are you all wet? Is that blood?” He keeps walking toward her. BB-8 beeps in confusion.

Her face turns unbearably sad, but grateful for the shock of compassion visited upon her. Rey wipes her nose, standing herself. Finn can see some of her surroundings— an ocean and an island, stones and huts… all hazy like a dream. When he looks at Rey her eyes are tearing up.

“You’re awake,” she laughs with relief and reaches out her hands to him. He reaches back, only a few steps away. Finn grabs her hands, squeezing. 

And then it’s gone, and Finn is alone in the room with grey mud on his hands and mist on his cheeks.

Leia’s voice reaches his ears, “Finn?” 

He’s stunned, no words come to him. BB-8 nudges his leg, giving a nervous little ‘woop’. 

The door opens and Poe enters, seeing Finn’s distressed stance and immediately going to him, one hand coming up to cup Finn’s face.

“Finn, talk to me. What just happened?” Poe says, taking one of Finn’s hands. He finds the wet mud and looks down at his own fingers before he looks back at Finn.

“I saw her again,” Finn says, finding his voice. “I need to talk to Leia,” he adds urgently.

Poe nods. “Alright, I’ll get you for you.” Poe guides Finn over to a seating area, going over to the sink to rinse his hands. He opens his comms, grabbing a cloth and wetting it in warm water.

“General,” he says, “... Leia. Finn saw Rey again.” 

“Let me in, Poe, I’m just outside,” comes her reply. The door buzzes. 

Poe lets out a disbelieving breath, going over to the door controls to let Leia in. She glances at Poe concernedly as she walks in.

“I felt it too,” Leia says, crossing over to Finn and sitting next to him. “A shift. I felt Luke for the first time since he left.”

“I saw her on an island… She was bleeding. She was scared,” Finn says desperately. “Are you sure she’s safe there? I have a bad feeling about what I just saw.”

Poe brings the cloth over to Finn, and drags over a chair, sitting in front of Finn and Leia. Finn wipes his hands. 

“I trust Luke, more than anything. He would keep Rey safe,” Leia promises. 

“I need to go to her,” Finn says. “I need to.”

Leia nods and takes Finn’s hand, squeezing it. “If that’s what you need to do, I’ll give you the coordinates,” she offers, then looks at Poe. “Did you tell him?”

Finn looks between them questioningly. 

“Didn’t get the chance,” Poe says, and turns to Finn. “We got a communication from the security base we seized. The system software is much more complex than our codebreakers expected.”

Finn shakes his head. “I didn’t work in Programming.”

Leia squeezes his hand again. “Do you think Cardinal might know how to get through the security?” 

Finn clenches the cloth in his other hand.

“It’s possible…” Finn hesiates. “He wrote a lot of the training simulations for the cadets. That requires quite a bit of expertise.”

Leia smiles and takes her hand away.

“Could you talk to him?— not alone,” Poe says quickly, “I’d go in with you.” 

Finn looks at Poe questioningly. “He’s awake?” 

“I won’t ask so much of you,” Leia says, “Anything you can tell us is more than helpful—”

“I’ll talk to him,” Finn agrees. “But I’d like Vi to be in there with me, actually. She’s the one who saved him after all.”

“The doctors think he’ll be able to talk in about an hour,” Poe says and clasps Finn’s shoulder reassuringly. “You can change your mind at any time. You’re under no obligation to talk to him.”

Finn nods resolutely. “I’ll talk to him.”

“Thank you, Finn.” Leia stands. “Once we see what Cardinal will share with us, I’ll make arrangements to get you to Rey.”

“Thank you,” Finn says. 

Poe sees her out and tosses the muddy cloth into the sink before returning to Finn’s side. 

“Did you get any sleep?” Poe asks.

“A bit,” Finn replies. “I was watching the hologram Rey left for me.” He sighs and looks at Poe pointedly. “What about you? You’ve barely been in here and these are  _ your _ quarters.”

“I got some shut-eye earlier,” Poe says, dropping his gaze. He stands, but Finn catches his wrist. 

“You need to take care of yourself. One slip and it affects everyone.”

Poe gives a dry laugh. “Leia said something similar.”

“It’s true,” Finn implores.

“I’m alright,” Poe insists.

“You’re the reason I’m here, Poe,” Finn says, standing as well. “You’re a helluva pilot. Your courage inspires everyone here.”

Poe smiles, genuinely but with palpable tiredness. “I wouldn’t be here if it weren’t for you, Finn. Don’t underestimate your part in all of this.” 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading! Comments are always appreciated. Did anything stand out in particular? I'd love to hear your thoughts. As usual, you can find me on tumblr @ talldyke.


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Happy New Year! This chapter was the last one I wrote back in 2017, so from here on out I am writing everything from scratch rather than rejigging an earlier draft. This chapter is a little longer, and has few scene changes. Hope you enjoy!

**EXT. AHCH-TO, HUT CONSTRUCTION - DAY**

Luke finds Rey sitting just outside of her hut, her knees drawn up against her chest, still sitting soaked in the now-softer rain. When she feels his presence she wipes her nose again and looks over her shoulder. 

“I don’t understand it,” she says, her voice thick with emotion. “I have no control. I’m trapped in that projection with Kylo Ren… but when I see Finn I can’t keep the projection for more than a moment.”

Luke sits next to her, putting a reassuring hand on her shoulder. 

“Force Projections take a tremendous amount of training. You have a natural power that I haven’t seen since I trained Ben… stronger even. I don’t think you’d be able to see Finn if you weren’t as strong as you are.”

Rey shakes her head. “I don’t feel strong,” she says. “I was scared and in pain… like I was being crushed or burned… my head still hurts.” She presses her palms against her eyes. 

Luke squeezes her shoulder then takes his hand away. “You  _ are _ strong,” he insists. “Learning how to ground yourself will help give you the control you seek.” 

“I need to finish my hut,” Rey says dejectedly.

“You’ve done a lot of physical work while I was away, let’s try something else, alright?” 

She nods, and Luke smiles softly. He stands and moves in front of her.

“Sit with your legs crossed, hands pressed against the ground.” 

Rey does as instructed, taking a deep breath as she does so. 

“You’re already a step ahead of me,” Luke says, glad when he sees her smile. “Keep your breathing deep and slow, long breath in, long breath out.” 

Luke breathes with her for a few moments, watching her physically relax. 

“Reach out with your feelings,” he guides, “open yourself to the Force and, in your own time, tell me what you find.” 

She nods, with her palms pressed against the ground, continuing to breathe. Rey frowns, curling her fingers into the dirt. For several breaths, she says nothing, merely searches. At last, she gasps. 

“I can feel the island…” she whispers. “The plants and animals… carcasses in the earth… nourishing it.” 

“And beyond that?” Luke asks.

“The water?” she says, “The waves crashing against the rocks… the cold.”

As she goes on, the clouds break and the rain lets up into a sun shower. A fine mist surrounds them, and Luke can see rainbows in the sunlight. Gooseflesh rises on Rey’s skin. 

“Warmth. The plants and animals reacting to it with— with happiness.” 

“Go back to the rocks. What do you feel?” 

Her lashes flutter against her cheeks as she concentrates, sucking in a deep breath. 

“The water,” Rey replies. “The pool where I got the rocks for my hut… their sharp edges and smooth sides.”

Luke leans forward. “What did you do with them?” 

“I took them from the water and carried them here.”

“Reach out with your hand,” Luke says. “Find the rock nearest to you.”

Hesitantly, Rey lifts her hand, still slowly breathing the way Luke instructed. The rock nearest to them shudders and begins to turn against the pile, scraping softly.

“Take another deep breath,” Luke instructs calmly. “And when your chest fills with air, lift the rock.” 

She frowns with deep concentration and takes in a deep quick breath, the rock jerks up unsteadily about a meter off the ground. Rey opens her eyes, gasping elatedly and grins. She takes more deep breaths trying to move the rock with more finesse. 

“Wow,” she breathes. 

Luke grins. “Do you want to add it to the hut?” 

Rey nods. “Yes I do.”

Luke motions with his hand, toward where the half-built hut was left. Rey turns her hand, guiding the rock over to the bucket of grey mud. Luke lifts his hand and picks up another rock, and then dips it into the bucket before placing it on the wall, tucking it in snuggly, and then packing in more mud. 

Rey does similarly, her own rock moving far more unsteadily. She adds her own rock to the wall. 

“Is it more efficient this way?” Rey asks. 

“It can be,” Luke replies. “With practice, you’ll find that the Force offers ways of completing tasks that didn’t occur to you.”

“I’m going to finish the hut,” Rey says determinedly, already moving her hand back toward her pile of rocks.

Luke chuckles. “You’ve done a lot today you don’t—”

“I want to finish it.”

“Don’t push yourself too hard,” Luke warns, but he isn’t worried about her. “I’m going to catch dinner.” 

He begins to walk away. 

“I felt you,” Rey says, and he finds her looking at him when he turns back. “You opened yourself back up to the Force again.” 

Luke nods. 

“Thank you,” she says, and looks back toward the rocks, taking a deep breath and lifting another shaky rock. 

“For what?” 

“This helped a lot.” Rey smiles and guides her rock to the bucket of mud. 

**INT. D’QUAR HOLDING CELL**

Wearing the jacket Poe gave him, Finn walks purposefully toward the cell Cardinal is being held in. He puts on a bravado, holding himself in a way that tries to make himself bigger. Underneath it all he is incredibly nervous.

Vi Moradi waits outside the cell. Two guards stand to the side holding blasters. Finn glances at them skeptically. 

“Their blasters are set to stun,” Vi assures. 

“I don’t think they’ll be necessary.”

Vi shrugs. “Better to have ‘em and not need ‘em, than need them and not have them.”

Finn simply nods. “He’s ready?” 

“Yeah. He’s been given bacta tablets and fluids,” she says. “He’s about as chatty as when we met, but don’t quote me on that. He had electrocuted me.”

She gives a breath of a laugh at the look of alarm on Finn’s face. 

“He’s lightly restrained, but I think he’s facing a crisis of identity right now.” She puts her hands on her hips. “He doesn’t want to admit to himself that the organization that saved him would want him gone.”

“It’s not easy, even when you know you’re on the right side,” Finn says. 

Vi presses a button and the door swishes open. On the other side of the room, reclining on a medical chair is Archex Cardinal. His wrists are cuffed in front of him. Finn steps into the room first, with Vi behind him.

Cardinal jerks in his seat when he registers who is standing before him. 

“FN-218—” 

“It’s Finn now,” he interrupts. 

“Your defection was quite the scandal,” Cardinal says, composing himself. “Among the higher-ranking personnel… none of the troops know what happened to you.”

The door swishes shut behind them. Finn and Vi sit down on chairs set up in front of a table. 

“A runaway stormtrooper might give them ideas, wouldn’t it?” Finn says. 

“You inspired some incredible loyalty as team leader. I remember how difficult Captain Phasma and General Hux found your compassion for your team.”

Finn takes a deep breath. “I saw the individual strengths of my peers. Phasma only saw simulation results.”

Cardinal shakes his head. “If there’s one thing I believe, it’s that you would’ve made a great leader. And that if Phasma hadn’t implemented those new training methods, you’d still be with us.”

“The First Order doesn’t care about you,” Finn says, frowning. “You’d be dead if Vi hadn’t gotten you out of there.” 

Cardinal turns his head away. “Better dead than a traitor.” 

“Even if it means letting Phasma win?” Finn asks.

“Maybe,” Cardinal replies. 

Vi stands, and circles the table, leaning against it. 

“So, Cap. We’ve got some questions.” 

“Ask away. I doubt I have anything useful for you,” Cardinal says with disdain. 

“Why’s that?” Finn asks. 

“Hux locked me out,” he says, jabbing his chin at Vi. “They got wind of my investigation.” He shakes his head. “Maybe numbers are the only thing they care about, not loyalty.”

“The Resistance has taken the Dahmyr security base,” Vi says.

Cardinal doesn’t seem phased. “Mining operations on Mahsyr have been minimal for five years. The ore is collected on an as-needed basis for replacement parts.”

“There have been some changes in priority, Cap,” Vi says. “Starkiller Base is no more.”

Vi brings her hands together like she’s holding a ball, and then makes an explosion sound as she pulls her hands apart. 

Now Cardinal looks concerned.

“How long have I been out?” 

Vi shrugs. “I had to keep you in cryo while I picked up some important cargo, then had to make some necessary detours to get back to base.” 

Cardinal frowns, genuinely concerned. “Are Siv and Torbi alright?” 

Vi narrows her eyes at him. “I didn’t think you’d care,” she says. “But yes they’re fine. No thanks to you.”

Cardinal sits back in the chair, staring at his cuffs. 

“I was on Starkiller Base when it happened,” Finn says. “I threw Phasma in the trash compactor after she lowered the shields.”

“Is she dead?” Cardinal asks.

“...Yes,” Finn says, but there’s doubt.

“She’s not dead,” Cardinal says, shaking his head. “Phasma refuses to do anything but survive.” 

Vi looks at Finn. “I have some compelling evidence to support that. And a witness.” 

Finn sighs, agreeing with her without voicing it. 

“Do you know how to bypass the security system in the Dahmyr base?” Finn asks.

Cardinal breathes a laugh. “I wrote code for simulations, not security,” he says. “They’re glorified games. The First Order likes the creativity of master coders. They challenge the coders we have on staff— make them better.”

“You hire freelancers?” Vi asks skeptically. 

“For weapons patents, for coding the simulations,” he says dismissively. “Not me specifically. I only trained the children.”

“You oversaw our  _ brainwashing _ and enslavement,” Finn corrects. 

“You were better off!” Cardinal barks. “All of you were! The First Order saved you— from  _ backwater planets _ , places you’d have been cannibalized or sold for food! No chances for anything. The First Order gave you and all your peers education and a purpose!” 

Finn stands, slamming his hands on the table. “We were never given a choice!” he shouts. “ _ Everything _ was dictated for us. When to eat, sleep, bathe, how to behave! We had First Order approved media to watch or read— and then recreational periods were dissolved the second year of Phasma’s training program.” Finn’s anger is palpable, but Vi makes no move to calm him. 

Finn goes on. “We were told to kill without question— if the First Order approved it those lives were expendable. The lives of my peers were expendable as well if they didn’t measure up!” Finn points at Cardinal accusingly. “I was tasked to kill villagers on Jakku. I did not see a threat to the First Order there. I saw a mother cradling her child, not understanding why her home was being burned to the ground!” 

Cardinal regards Finn with a look akin to sadness. “I’m sorry to feel that way,” he says. “The First Order gave me meaning and purpose. You saw Jakku— do you really think anyone could thrive there? The First Order took me out of that  _ dump _ and made me a Captain, made me a teacher of the next generation. They knew I would pass on my loyalty to the children they recruited.”

“Many of the children in your care were  _ stolen _ ,” Finn says, almost disgusted. “The First Order doesn’t care about your misplaced cult loyalty, Cardinal, they care about  _ power _ . You got in the way of that, and it almost got you killed.”

Cardinal doesn’t say anything more. Finn looks at Vi. 

“I’m done,” he says.

“Alright.” 

Finn stalks toward the door, letting it swish open before he leaves. He starts down the hall, but it doesn’t take long before hs pace falters and his eyes start watering. 

“Finn, hang on!” He hears Poe behind him. Finn doesn’t wait, but doesn’t go any faster either. 

Poe catches up with him, grabbing his shoulder. When he sees that Finn is upset he squeezes his arm reassuringly. 

“You did really well in there. I was watching on the monitors.”

Finn takes hold of Poe’s arm in return. “I got angry. He didn’t know anything.”

He looks away from Poe, swallowing hard, trying to sober the tears that still want to fall. His heavy exhalation is shuddering. 

“He knows layouts and schedules… Even the smallest intel is valuable,” Poe says. “What’s the matter?” 

A thick tear rolls down Finn’s cheek, and he exhales, still not looking at Poe. Poe guides him down a quieter hallway, an open but lesser-trafficked area where crates are stored. 

Finn brings a hand up and roughly wipes his eyes. “That man was the closest thing I had to a father,” he says thickly. “He knew all of his students’ designation numbers by heart.” More tears drip down his cheeks and he wipes at them again. “He was kind to us.” 

Poe pulls Finn into a hug, and after a few seconds of startled stiffness, Finn relaxes into the embrace and hugs him back. 

“Maybe he did care,” Finn says. “But he was just like us— conditioned to believe the First Order was something to trust and revere.”

Poe squeezes Finn’s shoulder. “You saw through their manipulation,” he reminds. “You have a big heart, I could tell the moment we met.”

Finn sighs and steps out of the hug. “The First Order made me, Poe. I wouldn’t be here otherwise.”

“ _ You _ made you,” Poe says seriously. “Everything that you are right now is because of what’s in here—” he pats his hand over Finn’s heart. “Not what they tried to condition into you.”

Finn smiles disbelievingly. “I’m not sure I believe that.” 

“Why not?” 

Finn wipes at his cheeks again. “I don’t know how to be a  _ person _ , Poe. I haven’t been able to stop thinking about our reconditioning treatments.”

“... The reconditioning…?” 

“When I felt angry, or sad or scared I would get a treatment and everything would be okay again. They never let us  _ feel _ anything, and I haven’t  _ felt _ this much in my whole life.”

Poe nods slowly. “You turned your back on the First Order, but that doesn’t mean parts of it won’t stay with you. It was your life. But you’re gonna have a bigger life, Finn. It’ll get easier. The further you get from them the easier it will be.”

Finn just nods, giving Poe a smile. 

“Thank you,” he says and clears his throat. After a beat, he shakes his head. “So the First Order hires freelance weapons engineers and coders.” He can’t help but laugh.

“Who’d have thought,” Poe replies with an exasperated smile. “Where do we even look for a master programmer who can get through First Order systems?” 

“Canto Bight,” says a young woman.

Poe and Finn jump in surprise, laying eyes on a young woman they had not seen when they’d stepped out of the high foot trafficked hallway. The woman had been sitting just out of view behind a crate, she’s stocky with black hair and rosy cheeks, and appears to have been crying.

“I’m sorry,” she says quickly. “I didn’t mean to eavesdrop, you seemed upset… I didn’t want to interrupt.”

Finn frowns, stepping over to her. “What are you doing back there?” The crate she’s sitting next to is open, full of tools, and a smaller toolbox sits to her left.

Her expression is embarrassed. “Crying,” she says. 

Poe passes Finn and offers her his hand. “You’re Rose, right? Paige’s sister.” 

She releases the medallion she had been clutching around her neck and takes his hand to help her up from behind the crate. She opts to sit on another closed crate.

“Yeah— Rose Tico,” she says. “My sister was injured on the Dahmyr mission. The doctors don’t know if she’ll wake up, she lost a lot of blood.”

“She’s a fighter,” Poe says confidently. “I don’t know if we’d have completed the mission without her. I’m sure she’ll pull through.”

Rose smiles her thanks, and glances back at Finn, her eyes lighting up. 

“Oh—  _ oh _ ! You’re Finn!” Rose exclaims. “The one who took down Starkiller Base! You’re a hero, you know?” 

“A hero? I wouldn’t say that,” Finn replies, frowning slightly.

Rose stands. “You are! You defected from the First Order, you helped Commander Dameron complete his mission! You blew up Starkiller Base!” 

Finn gives her an earnest but sad smile. “It was the right thing to do,” he says. 

Rose’s enthusiasm sobers, and she looks back at Poe. 

“You were talking about master programmers, right?” she asks. 

Poe nods. 

“The answer is Canto Bight.” Rose looks between them. “Especially if there’s overlap with weapons engineering.”

“There’s a casino there right?” Poe asks. “Gamblers, smugglers, weapons dealers… the type of people who only care about money.”

“Exactly,” Rose agrees.

“How do you know about this place?” Finn asks. 

Rose sighs and touches her medallion solemnly. “Paige and I were raised there.”

“Would you know who to talk to?” Poe says.

Rose considers this. “Uh— if I can get a look at the code I can narrow down who wrote it.” She nods. “These programmers have huge egos, they can’t walk away from a project without leaving their— their  _ signature _ behind.”

Poe grins, and when Finn looks at him and thinks he might be able to see a plan forming in his friend’s mind. 

“General Organa should hear this,” Poe says, looking intently at Rose. “We need to pursue this as far as we can.” 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading! Comments are always appreciated, in fact I'd love to hear what parts of my work stand out to you, or even if you have any predictions on where things might be going. My schedule for updating will be hopefully every second Friday, but you can keep up with me on tumblr @ talldyke.


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